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The deadlines, fees and rules the exam leans on, on one page. The CBLE is 80 questions in 4 hours 30 min, in six categories: Broker Compliance, Practical Exercise, Special Topic (Drawback or Quota), Classification, Entry / Entry Summary, Valuation, Appraisement and Duty Assessment. Figures are from the eCFR as at 12 Oct 2026; fees adjust every October, and your exam uses the CFR edition CBP names for it.
CBLE Ready is an independent study service. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by or connected to U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) or the Department of Homeland Security. Released CBP exams are reproduced as public-domain government works, with CBP cited as the source; every other question is original. A revision aid, not legal advice. It is not one of the CBLE references.
Know the numbers? Now apply them.
Most questions put these rules into an import with dates, documents and amounts.
| Rule | What to remember | Source |
|---|---|---|
| CBLE | 80 questions, 4 options, 270 min, 75% (60 of 80) | CBP; 19 CFR 111.11(a)(4) |
| Exam eligibility | US citizen, 18+, not a federal employee; license applicant 21+ | 19 CFR 111.13(b), 111.11(a) |
| Passing score validity | Apply for the license within 3 years of passing | 19 CFR 111.11(a)(4) |
| Address change | Update within 10 calendar days | 19 CFR 111.30(a) |
| Employee list | New and terminated employees within 30 calendar days | 19 CFR 111.28(b) |
| Records breach | Notify the CBP Security Operations Center within 72 hours | 19 CFR 111.21(b) |
| Broker records | Keep 5 years after the date of entry; POAs until revoked, then 5 years | 19 CFR 111.23(b) |
| Triennial report | File by March 1 or suspended; file + pay within 60 days of notice or revoked; fee $100 | 19 CFR 111.30(d), 111.96(d) |
| Continuing education | 36 credits each triennial period; 20 for 2024-2027 only | 19 CFR 111.102(b); 89 FR 87387 |
| Entry summary | Within 10 working days after the time of entry | 19 CFR 142.12(b) |
| Informal entry | Shipments up to $2,500 (with exceptions) | 19 CFR 143.21(a) |
| Liquidation | Deemed liquidated if not liquidated within 1 year of entry | 19 CFR 159.11(a) |
| Protest | Within 180 days of the decision (entries on or after Dec 18, 2004) | 19 CFR 174.12(e) |
| Bonded warehouse | 5 years from the date of importation | 19 CFR 144.5 |
| Manufacturing drawback | Export or destroy within 5 years of importation | 19 CFR 190.27 |
| MPF (FY2027) | 0.3464%; minimum $34.58, maximum $670.86 per formal entry | 19 CFR 24.23; 91 FR 48398 |
| HMF | 0.125% of value, vessel cargo at covered ports | 19 CFR 24.24(a) |
| Exam and license fees | Exam $390; individual license $300; organization $500; permit $100 | 19 CFR 111.96 |
Who needs a license, how to get one after the CBLE, the national permit, and what keeps a license alive: the triennial status report and continuing education. Broker Compliance is 15 to 20 questions on recent exams, and these day counts are favourite targets.
What a licensed broker must do day to day: supervise, keep and protect records, handle client money, advise clients, deal properly with forwarders and CBP, and what happens when it does not. Expect several Broker Compliance questions built on 19 CFR 111.21-111.42 and Part 141's power of attorney rules.
Every released exam has a block of case questions built on one exhibit: a commercial invoice, an excerpted CBP Form 7501, a CBP Form 5106 or a calendar of federal holidays. CBP warns that the documents may contain errors. You win these by checking each block or invoice line against one rule, then doing the arithmetic in order: value, classification, duty, MPF, HMF and the due date.
Drawback refunds up to 99 percent of duties, taxes and fees when imported (or substituted) goods are exported or destroyed. This note covers the three main types under 19 CFR Part 190, the 8-digit substitution standard, time limits, notices, privileges, calculations and liability. Drawback was the special-topic category on the May 2024, October 2024 and April 2025 exams.
How quota-class goods get quota status: absolute versus tariff-rate quotas, presentation in proper form, the opening moment and proration, what to do with excess goods, export certificates and licenses, and how ACE processes quota lines. Quota replaced drawback as the special-topic category on the October 2025 and April 2026 exams.
How the HTSUS decides a classification before you look at any goods: the six General Rules of Interpretation, the Additional U.S. Rules, section and chapter notes, the General Notes on rate columns and the customs territory, and the General Statistical Notes that build the 10-digit number. Based on the HTSUS 2026 Basic Edition, the reference for the October 2026 exam.
A working method for classifying real goods to the 10-digit level in the HTSUS 2026 Basic Edition, with the notes and splits that decide the recurring product families: apparel and textiles, footwear, machinery and electronics, vehicle parts, furniture, toys, food, chemicals, plastics and base metal articles.
The life of an entry from arrival to the entry summary: deadlines, time of entry, who may make entry, informal entry limits, immediate delivery, invoices, statements, post-summary corrections and reconciliation. Entry / Entry Summary is the largest category on the exam (25 of 80 questions).
How CBP secures the revenue and how goods wait without paying duty: bond types, amounts and liquidated damages; in-bond movements; bonded warehouses and their classes; and foreign-trade zone statuses, forms and operator duties.
Country of origin marking under 19 CFR Part 134, the Part 102 rules for USMCA and textile origin, trademark and copyright enforcement under Part 133, and partner-agency requirements in Part 12 such as EPA, NHTSA, FDA and cultural property.
Claiming USMCA and other agreement benefits, MPF exemptions by program, American goods returned and assembled abroad under Chapter 98, temporary importation under bond, carnets, and the de minimis suspension of June 2026.
What happens after the entry summary: liquidation and its extensions, protests and the Court of International Trade, 1592 penalties and prior disclosure, petitions for relief, AD/CVD deposits and the EAPA evasion process. Most questions are deadlines and maximum amounts, so the numbers here are worth memorising.
Customs value under 19 CFR Part 152: transaction value first, with its five additions and its exclusions, then the fallback methods in a fixed order. Valuation is 15 questions on every released exam, and practical exercises lean on it too.
How the money is worked out: ad valorem, specific and compound duty, the merchandise processing fee with its fiscal-year minimum and maximum, the harbor maintenance fee, rate columns and currency conversion. Practical exercises and valuation questions on every released exam need this arithmetic, done by hand.
The released CBLEs tested 19 CFR as of 2023 or January 2024. Since then CBP has changed continuing education, copyright enforcement, EAPA procedure, USMCA container rules, refunds and the de minimis exemption. Know which version your exam's references contain: the October 2026 exam uses the 2025 annual CFR.
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